A Caernarfon pizzeria claims to have lost 30% of its business following a move within the town centre amid restrictions over its opening times.
Bella Pizza recently moved the short distance from Bridge Street to Hole in the Wall Street in the centre of the historic town.
The new location saw planning conditions attached to the business’ operations, and a reduction in how long it could stay open – which the business says has caused it “huge losses”. Get all the latest Gwynedd news by signing up to our newsletter – sent every Tuesday
Retrospective change of use permission for the new takeaway was granted in July last year. Conditions placed on the permission meant limits to when the takeaway could operate.
It stated that the premises could not be open to the public outside of the hours of 8am and 11pm, unless a Temporary Events Notice was in place allowing an extension.
Applicant Rebecca Owen has now requested Cyngor Gwynedd planners amend the planning consent.
She said the takeaway was “missing out on a lot of orders” and points out that the two pubs on Hole in the Wall Street stay open later, and that those customers formerly provided much of the pizza shop’s trade.
In a letter to council planners, she said that when the Italian food eatery traded on Bridge Street, it had been allowed to operate from 4pm to 12pm, Sunday to Thursday, and 4pm to 2am, Friday and Saturday.
She said: “Many of our customers still think we are open past 11pm, which leads to many phone calls from customers trying to post orders past this time.
“We then have to refuse as we have switched everything off and closed for the night. We are missing out on a lot of orders because of this.
“There is also a large number of walk-ins we miss out on, people come and find the door locked whilst we are cleaning inside, and we have to explain that we close at 11pm, due to the council’s conditions.”
She added: “A large amount of our passing trade comes from the pubs.
“When people leave, they often want take away food. When the pubs close, now, we are already cleaning down with everything switched off.
“The weekends are especially cruel to us, as there are huge numbers of people knocking on the window, trying to pull the attention of staff, who then have to refuse entry, because we are closed.
“Overall, closing at 11pm is causing us huge losses as a business.
“We have seen a decrease in sales, over 30 percent, compared to our previous location, our busiest times were late nights at weekends.”
She has asked council planners to consider “key points” when considering her application. “Pubs on our street close at 1.30am on the weekend and at 12am on weekdays,” she wrote.
She also noted that the takeaway did not play loud music, that the business had 16 “high quality” internal and external cameras, which “minimises risk of anti-social behaviour,” she said.
She added that a previous business operated with an alcohol licence, valid until 12am, seven days a week, and that Bella Pizza did not sell alcohol.
Her letter ends: “We kindly ask you to reconsider removing the conditions set on us so that we can get back on our feet at our new location and work on increasing our sales again.” Join the North Wales Live Whatsapp community now